Submitted by Iona C. Hine on Thu, 13/11/2025 - 14:26
A year ago, we released a podcast series on the theme of Interfaith Futures. As UK Inter Faith Week swung back around and following up on May's Bursting the Bubble report, we sent a group of Cambridge students along to the national launch event in London.
Divinity postgraduate Floris Bosscher wrote up what happened. Then on Monday CIP Programme Manager Dr Iona Hine caught up with three undergraduates to hear their reflections on this event and on the future of interfaith.
Scroll down to read what Floris made of it all, listen to the undergraduates in an Inter Faith Week special for the Religion & Global Challenges podcast, or watch the conversation on YouTube (embedded below).
Floris Bosscher writes:
The Interfaith Week opening event, held on 6 November in London, was a touching and enthusiastic gathering aimed at showcasing the many interfaith initiatives working on understanding, cooperation, and dialogue across different faith communities. The event features representatives of many faiths, and none. Within their diversity, they all shared the value of recognising and appreciating faith diversity.
High level speakers kicked of the event, including the current Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities, Miatta Fahnbulleh, as well as her predecessor as Faith Minister Lord Khan of Burnley. Reverend Dr Sam Wells from the host parish (St Martins in the Field) and Lord Rook of Wimbledon also delivered speeches during the first half of the afternoon, whereas youth groups and artistic performances took centre stage for the second half. All delivered touching and tender words about the value and importance of interfaith initiatives. Dr Wells told a quartet of stories featuring parishioners from different faiths. Lord Khan stressed the importance of grassroots interfaith work, spelling out how his own experience as a taxi driver was the best preparation imaginable.
Obstinate optimism and careful concern
The atmosphere was one of obstinate optimism and careful concern. Miatta Fahnbulleh and Lord Khan stressed the current government’s dedication to (inter-)faith work, acknowledging that relations between the government and faith communities need a reset. There was a widespread awareness that the huge challenges of polarisation cannot be addressed without putting faith communities front, right, and centre.
It was heartening to see recognition for faith communities’ ability to reach pockets of society that are otherwise forgotten and dwell in the darkness. From a European perspective, the acknowledgement of faith’s ongoing importance in the 21st century at official level is refreshing and inspiring. The audience was also markedly youthful, diverse and optimistic, signalling that interfaith in the UK is alive and well.
Complex, vast, and growing
All attendees were keenly aware of the fact that the challenges facing interfaith work are complex and vast. Animosities aimed at and between faiths are a daily occurrence, with last year’s riots and the deep suffering in the Middle East as tragic examples. Standing up to this remains a tall task. Yet, all faiths present share notions of growth through adversity.
The interfaith launch event reminded me that growing towards each other can and should be part of these notions too. The more than 130 interfaith organisations participating in Inter Faith Week are committed to this. Their work often goes unnoticed as shared understanding is harder and less ‘clickable’ than expressions of hate and conflict. Yet, their work in the background is essential to a resilient and reconciled global Britain. Shedding light on their efforts simultaneously provides us with light in the darkness.